At last, the year 2020 has arrived. It is a brand-new year and undoubtedly, the beginning of the third decade in the Twenty-first Century. Time is moving fast. Whether it is going to be a decade of prosperity and promise for Nigerians will be determined by the commitment of our leaders towards solving pertinent national challenges. By 2030, it is estimated that the population of Nigeria would have increased by 80 million. At that time, what will rapid population growth mean for nutrition levels? What will be the state of the country’s infrastructure and importantly, can Nigeria meet its electricity goals by 2030?
One quote attributed to Bill Gates is that people overestimate what will happen in a year and underestimate what will happen in a decade. Proverbially, the eye that would be useful to a man throughout the day must not be infected in the morning. If Nigerians are to realize their dreams at the end of this decade, they must see signs and wonders of growth from the year 2020. This is an important decade for us. A decade in which we must find solutions to our numerous national challenges.
In the past, fellow Africans looked up to Nigeria to take the lead in political and socio-economic affairs of the Continent. Then I used to think that Nigeria, being the most populous nation in Africa, must not disappoint the world and specifically Africans. I am wrong as a few African countries have started looking elsewhere for solutions to their problems because Nigeria is not ready to provide leadership. Some of our leaders have made governance look like rocket science.
Interestingly, at the John F. Kennedy Space Centre, Merritt Island, Florida, the phrase ‘failure is not an option’ tells the story of about 500 men and women behind America’s space program Apollo 13 which went to the moon in 1969. These are the men and women of the mission control team who by their distinguished professional calling conceptualized, designed, built, tested and launched the project.
They made their country proud as their responsibility also covered, the safety of the crew of Apollo 13 manned moon landing mission. It is this worthy background that must compel us to seize the opportunity provided by this new decade to express Nigeria’s narrative that, failure is not our option in spite of negative predictions earlier made about the nation by global financial institutions.
If we do not want negative predictions to manifest, those in authority must ensure that all is done within their powers not to devalue the Naira. A devaluation of the Naira, according to the 2020 Fitch Report, will cause big problems to Nigeria’s macroeconomic environment, and as a result, drag down the economy. It is not desirable to have the economy dragged down further because it has not responded significantly to various prescriptions administered on the fiscal and monetary sides since the last of recession of 2016. We have an economy with rising inflation and unemployment figures.
If we want to reduce inflation and unemployment, the government must create the enabling environment for production to thrive. Ease of doing business must be improved if we want this decade to bring in growth with sharp reduction in poverty. Entrepreneurship is the way to go and entrepreneurs must be encouraged and supported by local, state and federal governments. When we look at the factors of production such as land, capital, labour and technology we have a long way to go. All these factors are not well managed and that is why production and productivity are at lowest ebb in the country.
In productivity, the country suffers from a high degree of informal employment which keeps many Nigerians in low-skill, low-paying jobs and deprives the economy of the dynamism that small and medium-size enterprises create. Labour which would have contributed significantly to our national power is highly skewed in favour of those unskilled and not pro-industry.
Power supply is epileptic. In fact, the issue of power supply is seen as a scam. And there would likely be no light at the end of the tunnel in the foreseeable future until the policy and strategy on privatization of the power sector are reviewed in the interest of the nation. We have land but how much of our land has been put to productive use. So, in order to increase productivity and earnings in the agricultural sector, the government could pursue land reforms and embark on mechanized farming aimed at improving the contribution of agriculture to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
If we do not want negative predictions to manifest, those in authority must ensure that all is done within their powers not to devalue the Naira
The oil sector must be reformed. We have capital but our foreign reserves may not absorb a shock arising from a fall in price of crude oil in the international market. Government’s borrowing is rising because Nigeria has not sufficiently diversified its economy. The country’s debt profile is at N25. 7 trillion, according to the Debt Management Office. We have been reassured by the Minister of Information that “No cause for alarm over Nigeria’s debt profile.” The reason is that Nigeria has a debt ceiling of 25 percent in the total public debt stock to GDP which it had operated in, according to the honourable minister. This reason seems attractive but it must be treated with suspicion because the country, according to analysts, may have to commit half of its foreign earnings to servicing its current level of indebtedness.
Importantly, technology as a factor of production is still not at an advanced level in our country. No nation can be great without developing a science mind, an engineering heart and technological souls. Education is at the heart of this matter. Today, education which is the lifeline of growth in all ramifications and the first step to prosperity is in shambles. It is therefore not surprising that the Nigerian economy has remained in comatose in spite of countless economic measures by the state and federal governments respectively.
As the population increases, medical facilities do not match the needs of the people. For example, Lagos State with a population of over 20 million, harbours only two of Nigeria’s biggest tertiary hospitals, LUTH and LASUTH. These teaching hospitals are ill-equipped as they have a problem of bed space and overstretched capacity. Discussing the corruption in government-owned hospitals will not add flavour to this article. But certainly, the good, bad and ugly in LUTH and LASUTH will not be completely different from what one finds in other tertiary hospitals spread across the country. In order to have a healthy workforce, the health sector at local, state and federal levels throughout the country need complete overhaul.
A rise in political uncertainty will continue to affect negatively the growth of the country. Emerging rivalries in the ruling party APC is expected to spark early dissensions over the 2023 succession to President Buhari. The implication is that uncertainty in the political atmosphere could hamper policy decision making. That is why electoral reforms are necessary. Any third term agenda by any politician will not work. A nation that wants its economy to grow rapidly cannot have prolonged security challenges.
I am of the view that some of our leaders have the ability to face our challenges and the intellect to find solutions to them. Unfortunately, most of those we could have relied on in leadership positions see the country as a cash cow. Once they are elected or appointed into positions of authority, they go into office with a mindset of how to grab something. The mindset of “let me grab my own” must change if this country is to be of relevance in this decade within the African region and the world at large. Thank you!
MA Johnson
